One word: Republicanasswipes.

Anyone who supports war deserves what he or she gets.

I have sympathy for the war supporter for he only cares for his on behind or that of his buddies.

As for the humiltaion, murder and torture of innocent people and animals in other lands, he couldn't care less.

Yeah but Ron,his opinion changed only becuase of a badly run government. As mentioned this will happen again cause people like him support the killing of others so long as it doesn't effect him. So in the future the new evildoers will figure out away to kill in stealth.

THE CANCER REMAINS

John Dean told Richard Nixon over 30 years ago that there was a cancer on the presidency. He was right and he was wrong. The cancer was Richard Nixon but it was not on the presidency, it was in the body of America.

When Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon so that the "nation could heal" he condemned America to death by allowing that cancer to remain and grow and matasticize. It is back in the executive branch and has also infected the legislative branch and the judicial branch. It is killing America.

The cancer must be destroyed. It must be cut out of the body by impeachment, irradiated by prosecution and totally eradicated through the chemotherapy of justice. To do otherwise is to allow America to die.

Nancy Pelosi did not have the authority to take impeachment off the table. Impeachment is on the table and that table is the Constitution of the United States. The only way to remove impeachment as the right and just way to deal with an out of control executive branch is to pass a Constitutional amendment!!!!

Impeachment is the scalpel needed to remove the disease that now infects OUR government. Impeachment must begin NOW!!!!

Why did it take that person so long to see reality? Even before Katrina, it was so freakin’ obvious.

So true. And these people think of themselves as serious and smart individuals. The country is loaded with tools and fools.

WAKE UP! Shout it from the rooftop WAKE UP!

I tried posting over there but couldn't for some reason. Like the other commenters here I'm less than impressed with Steve Thomas's "change of heart" and also with his rambling self justifications. His commenters are reflective of what we as active, thoughtful, citizens are up against. Thomas, by his own description, was simply too lazy and too self satisfied to look seriously at what politics is, what is at stake, and how his own vote figures into the entire process that is our political life and political world as a country. He drifted along certain that whoever got screwed in the process it wasn't going to be him. All that has changed is that the level of crony capitalism, sheer corruption, incompetence and malevolence of the party he has supported has suddenly become clear to him. But he hasn't fully come to terms with the fact that there are only two players in our current system. If he isn't willing to vote democratic and fight for democratic ideals he is, by default, leaving our country in the hands of people he actually knows are corrupt and doing damage to us. he knows now what he bought and he says he doesn't like it, but he isn't really willing (for whatever reason) to fight back. Instead, he sits in the dark hoping that someone else will come along and do gthe heavy lifting for him.

As for his commenters--they are outraged that anyone would be so unmanly as to even for good cause reject tribal loyalty to the GOP. No matter how bad any single incident has been, they say, the democrats would have done the same (so why vote against dems) or worse (the imaginary world in which a party which fights for the direct oppositge of your party's plans and schemes miraculously produces something that is identical to or worse than your own party?). One commenter even made explicigt his conviction that the only real problem america has is *other americans* by saying he would rather side with al quaeda than liberals and their filthy kind. And they call *us* unpagtriotic.

Frankly, its not enough to call yourself an indpendent Steve Thomas. Until you throw the fucking typewriter at your own head you haven't even begun to pay the price you owe the rest of us for your gullibility.

aimai

Impeachment is a best a short term solution. The real solution long term is to vote out every Republican lockstepper and replace them with reasonable, moderate public servants who have integrity, service, and a forward thinking agenda as their core values, not a backward, psychotic and delusional "philosophy." Until concerned voters act to change what is today---the status quo will continue indefinitely.

While many on this blog want immediate action and results---sorry, it's going to take some time. If we persist---we will overcome.

This guy should be commended for writing this piece. I know that we are all trained to be on one side or another, liberal or conservative, but I only hope and pray that one day we can be AMERICANS again. Bush and Co. have made it virtually impossible to do this due to partisan B.S. And this coming from the guy who promised to be a "uniter, not a divider". Please.
I have many Republican friends who I feel sorry for because the party that they were once a part of and that I had some basic philosophical, but not ridiculous, differences with has been pirated by these (insert expletives or colorful derogatory adjectives here) thugs.

Bush and Cheney should be impeached because they think it can't happen to them. Let's set an example for future leaders. You are not the law, the American people are. The government should fear us, we should not be living in fear of them (Patriot Act). Let's get it together people and take these two bastards down and restore our dignity in the eyes of the world. Bush, Cheney- UNACCEPTABLE!

Yes, it's great to be independent. Independence is wonderful. Especially when you wear the blinders covering your view of the corporate servitude under which you remain independence.

http://www.gregpalast.com/
Yeah, pretty much the whole world runs on corruption.

What is sad about this is that Republicans do not connect or understand that their party's mantra of "small government" is represented by the failures of Katrina. Bush's failures in Katrina perfectly reflect Republicanism "small government" and not incompetence. The failure of Katrina is a failure of Republican ideology. Their party's opposition to government intervention in people's lives is there for all to see in Katrina. Their hawish views stare them in the face when looking at the failure of Iraq. Conservatives do not know that Bush has lived up to their party ideals. Bush is successful, but they don't approve and people say Bush was incompetent--NONSENSE!

Better late than never, I guess?

To quote Bruce Willis in "Diehard" - WELCOME TO THE PARTY, PAL!

it kills me how long this writer stayed the course with the repugs. How hard is it to find the facts? Really? I mean I was able to follow from the start that the Iraq war was a war of choice based on lies, it was all out there for everyone to see, but for some reason a great deal of people never saw it. and say what you will about the media on this, it's truely the American people's responsibility to know what is going on, and only the most ignorant would believe what they hear either from the corporate media or any politician. It makes me very sad to think that my country is so completely backward, I mean this is AMERICA, we were once the greatest country in the world, not really a statement I'm comforatble with any more, we are not being the greatest country and the reason is not just 100% Bush Crime Family, we as a nation allow this to happen and there are some who actually do support it still.

American can be the greatest nation once again, but it will take all of us to get it there and I'm just not sure Americans have the fight in them anymore. And that makes me sadder still.

The only hopeless robots that still believe this cascade of lies by GOP Inc. are the viewers of O'Reilly, Limbaugh and Fox News. May God have mercy on their souls. Impeachment for Bush and Cheney will be darn good for this soul.

This was a great article. It was well worth reading the entire piece.

I have little sympathy for the "come-latelies" streaming out from under the Big Tent of Rethuglicanism and whining for "understanding" and "forgiveness." Know why? Because they still don't get it. They still don't see what ELSE this hellish group of political hacks that they've supported have done.

In the "name" of Americanism, this bunch of yahoos has used torture and lies and corruption to blast our country's standing among others so low that no American can travel without wondering if somebody in another country isn't laughing at us as we go out about our business. Through the actions of this gang of ugly, pathetic thugs, our country may stand no better than the petty thieves who continually steal African nations from their people.

So, now we have a group of whiny-ass right-wing titty babies only now figuring out that the petted, foolish and idiot prince of the White House and his dark-lord overseer have gutted some of the most precious freedoms Americans had. Freedoms that they send other people's children to die for while their own children get drunk in the streets and tarry in South American countries with gigolos. Doesn't it strike any of our fair-weather former Rethugs a little STRANGE that nobody in government, nor the captains of industry who feed this government on a diet of bribes and corruption, have THEIR children in this war?

And, our "leaders" continue to gut this country of what made it stand out among tyranny and hatred. They've made serving the country a joke, even as they bray on about "supporting the troops" (all the while sending our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, friends off to fight without proper training, equipment, or backup).

Look, freedom in this country depends on everybody standing up to preserve it. Tottering out from under a tattered tent, still drunk with the trickle-down power of the criminals who rule the GOP, now these fair-weather Rethugs are wanting to help "fix" what their leaders broke. I say to all of you, get real. And start appreciating that a lot of us out here have been against this bunch of thugs and their war and their crimes since day 1 -- all through the days when you and your ilk (rethugs, young rethugs, yellow elephants, reich-wing Christianist carpetbaggers, sewage-filled mouthpieces of hatred in the media, and all the others who prey on this country without contributing to it) were calling US unpatriotic because we have been doing all along what you just now figured out how to do: question your "leaders" and stand up for what is right.

So, fuck your lazy, wrinkled ex-Rethug asses. Get to the back of the bus and let the adults continue what we started out to do: clean up this country and take it back from the criminals and thugs you people have enabled for far too long. Earn some respect from those of us whom you have disrespected for far too long and at your own risk. We have work to do and we don't need whiny-ass titty baby ex-thugs in our midst keeping us from getting it done.

"I supported the Iraq War in the beginning, but as its mismanagement grew, so did my disillusionment. Yet I remained a Republican.

Then the rains came. When the New Orleans levees gave way, so did my belief in the Republican Party. This was an American city, pulverized by nature - though with plenty of notice, unlike an earthquake - and although the local and state authorities (which were Democrats) reacted with monumental ineptitude, I had confidence that a Republican administration would get the situation under control and lead a swift rebuilding."

I'm sorry. I mean, I'm glad the person finally saw the light, but one has to be delusional (if not downright ignorant) to have any "confidence" that the republican party was going to handle New Orleans, the war, the environment, or really anything other than assuring kick-backs for big business with anything but lip service and indifference. I would ask the writer, and in fact any republican, to come up with a single positive accomplishment their party has achieved from Reagan to Bush senior to the most corrupt, Junior. I've asked this of several republicans, and they can't come up with anything besides glittering generalities and sound bites. Why would anyone have faith in this party to accomplish anything for the greater good? There's only one real reason. Maybe two: they have great public relations, and the dems are like a deer in the headlights of any republican accusation/slander/smear campaign.

In one sense, it's nice to hear about another American coming to their senses. On the other hand, where has he been for the lat six years? Has he been paying attention?

I feel like hurling but I haven't swallowed a typewriter.

http://myfightfordemocracy.blogspot.com/2007/07/new-declaration-of-indep...

Here I am in Corvallis, Montana, the Bitterroot Valley. In my front yard I have the majestic Bitterroot Range. My back yard is the Sapphire Range. The 360 view I have is sheer beauty and sometimes it's hard to look out my window and see anything wrong with a country that is so geographically diverse and gorgeous.

And then I remember. I remember that people in Iraq, both Americans and Iraqis, are being killed EVERY DAY, by the hundreds, IN MY NAME. That innocent bystanders in Louisiana died because I live in a country that doesn't care. That people around me are dying slow, painful deaths because they can't afford healthcare. That for some reason my government feels it has unlimited rights and access to my vagina (which is just plain weird). That this beautiful landscape is fading away because we care more about our trophy cars and McMansions. It astounds me that there are still citizens of America who gleefully and dutifully sip their koolaid and keep the blinders firmly in place, goose-stepping along with a group of people intent on maintaining their lifestyle regardless of the consequences.

While it's good to see people snapping out of it a little, it's not enough. You have to be willing to walk the walk and stick up for the guy who DOESN'T have the company benefits. You have to get your hands dirty in order to protect the land. You have to remove the rose-colored glasses of promise that were standard issue when you became a republican and bring the zoom lens in tight. look left, right,up, down. See the people? See the country? They're DYING.

I feel frustrated. I think I'll go look out my window and keep telling myself that eventually, people will wake up fully and that everything will be alright. I just hope it's not too late.

The Democrats who we put in office are equally inept they repeatedly let this dumb asshole
sorry excuse of a president walk all over them. People are clamoring for impeachment. When will they start to move? When George FUCK YOU Bush allow all his minion to rule all branch in legal office. Who fights for liberty and Justice in America? Who are the true defenders of Freedom and Constitution? CERTAINLY NOT THE INEFFECTUAL DEMOCRAT.

My road to Independent was paved through the crony/corporatist DLC.

5.5 millions new jobs? I guess you can thank our society's lust for fast food for that.

It might look like "too little, too late" for some, but admitting oneself was wrong is a rare commodity these days. The two kinds of people who change their mind that I don't have respect for are those who just follow the majority because they can't think for themselves, and those who do it to stay popular, yet their personal ethics are as rotten as ever.

Because they're all so 'independent' now.

Missouri, like Virginia, is going to finally be a legitimate battleground state again IMO and both have a reasonable shot of flipping over to the Dems this time around and THAT would be the death knell for any republican candidate.

I live in Missouri and that little ol newpaper is in the heart of the most conservative and reactionary part of the show-me state. Catholic Bishops in both cities have actively made clear their Republican preferences. The number of mega-churches handing out voting guides is beyond belief. But, something has changed - something big and I can't define it except to say that this editorial echoes so many people I know. I've been a Democrat all my life and even though I have been a bit disgusted by the party at times, I've never seen the kind of self-deception that I see in current Republican circles. My ultra conservative physician friend - a good and decent man - recently asked me to send him material on Obama. Another friend - conservative to the core - now admits that he has been duped - big time - and declares himself an independent. Likes Obama because he is someone who brings people together. This couldn't be just my small circle of friends. It must be permeating the culture.

My only hope is that whoever wins the next Presidential election is held to a level of scrutiny that makes what is going on now look like nothing...even if that President is a Democrat!

For one, the author must not have been an evangelical Christian. Evangelical Christians support for Bush is now ever more stronger than ever was. Liberal media knows no bounds in slandering and victimizing evangelical Christians like Bush and Libby and spreading negative media about the Iraq war and Katrina. And I see, that this reporter's faith is not strong enough.

I blame the liberal media for clouding his point of view on Katrina, the wars, and everything.

When I was watching C-SPAN after Katrina, an elderly woman called into one of the discussion shows. She said:

Bush is looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We have already been hit by a weapon of mass destruction: Katrina. The sad part is that it was staring everyone in the face and no one did anything about it.

She pretty much said it all. It's like if the hijackers had hit New Orleans on 9/11, it also would have gone unnoticed. I believe that the money isn't flowing because Bush is only giving it out to companies that are in bed with the Republicans.

Joseph Lieberman, who pledged to investigate the Department of Homeland Security if re-elected, has now dropped the DHS/FEMA investigations. It shows that corrupt politicians in either party (or an Independent) cause our country harm. Unfortunately, without an investigation, the lessons that would prevent this from happening to another American city have not been learned.

Just What I Think @ 27:

The Repuglicans have done nothing but increase the size and expense of government. Look at Department of Homeland Security, FEMA changes, WHIG (Cheney's separate Intelligence Agency), new roles in all agencies to circumvent environmental regulations and Justice Dept. layers, a separate military under Blackhawk and Halliburton contracts, wasteful Iraq contracts for failed armor, vehicles that blow up, a billion dollar embassy in Iraq, 2 and a half day work week for congress (under Repugs). I could go on endlessly about our failed Congress and distended budget under the failed Rethuglicans.

For the first time in my life, I am more afraid of MY OWN GOVERNMENT, than anything else in this world thanks to Bush and his followers!

Very true, Bob Roberts.

Great article. BushCo can be summed up thusly: criminal conspiracy, criminal incompetence and criminal negligence.

For instance, one of the criminally negligent acts by BushCo after Hurricane Katrina involved the over 800 million dollars offered by other countries to help Gulf Coast citizens adversely affected by Katrina. The last I heard, BushCo only accepted about 12 pecent of the relief funds offered, leaving 88 percent uncollected and unspent.

Why? What could possibly be the rationale for not accepting these funds and putting the money into a hurricane-recovery escrow account? Approximately 700 milliion dollars could have gone far in helping our fellow citizens along the Gulf Coast either relocate or rebuild.

I accuse BushCo, therefore, of criminal negligence. Comparable to the criminal negligence exhibited by BushCo in not planning for the aftermath of the Iraq invasion.

The initial shock at the outright criminality of the Bush administration has turned into numbness, but I will definitely make it into a voting booth in November 2008 to register my utter disgust with what certain Republicans as well as certain DINO Democrats have done to our democracy. Maybe, just maybe, the damage can be reversed so our children don't have to pay for the actions of the criminal enterprise called the Bush administratoin.

In otehr words, I don't believe we will able to "commute" the sentence the corrupt Bush administration has saddled future generations of American citizens with. We may be able to mitigate some of the damage done, but only if enough progressive Democrats are elected in November 2008 to replace all the conservative Republicans and equally-conservative DINO Democrats who've led our nation down this path of self-destruction.

At first I thought, good for him. He finally came to his senses and has a heart. Then I realized, this scumbag not only supported the war but only turned against it when it was mismanaged. What kind of shit is that? "I's all for killin' brown folk, ask long as it's dun real efficient like". Basically the torture, the death, destruction of families was too poorly executed for him. He claims to be against ineptitude, cruilty and neglect. Those are the three things chimpy has been famous for ever since he was a little coke snortin' gov'ner. This prick still voted for him. Probably twice.

I don't have room in my heart for these people who have "seen the light" and don't want to be on trial with the rest of the bush crime family. As far as I'm concerned, they had their chance. Only now that the damage is done and the jackals have picked the carcass clean, do these people come out. FUCK EM. FUCK EM ALL.

screech Says: Why did it take that person so long to see reality? Even before Katrina, it was so freakin’ obvious.

So true. And these people think of themselves as serious and smart individuals. The country is loaded with tools and fools.

Ok, I'm a few days late, but I have to say, being from MO where the VAST majority of the people are head-up-the-ass Republican (especially in hickville Lake of the Ozarks), I have to commend Steve for seeing the light and admitting it. I come from a family of Missouri Republicans who have been harping on me for the past twenty years about being a liberal (and that is always said as an insult) and although I KNOW they are seeing the writing on the wall every day, won't admit they're wrong. My father and brothers will all be in the dwindling slice of Bush approval until their dying day to prove their loyalty, and although I won't see the day they admit they're wrong, their faces while watching the news don't lie.

It's really quite sad to see otherwise smart and loving people want to believe in a defunct crook factory like the current administration. Congrats Steve on seeing the light and following it.